The
Defendant, Demarcus Lashawn Blackman, was convicted by a
Marshall County Circuit Court jury of aggravated criminal
trespass and evading arrest, Class A misdemeanors.
See T.C.A. §§ 39-14-406 (2014) (aggravated
criminal trespass), 39-16-603 (2014) (amended 2016) (evading
arrest). The trial court sentenced him to consecutive terms
of eleven months, twenty-nine days for each conviction and
ordered the sentence to be served consecutively to an
unrelated twelve-year sentence. On appeal, he contends that
his sentence is excessive. We affirm the judgments of the
trial court.

Donna
Orr Hargrove, District Public Defender, and William J. Harold
and Michael J. Collins, Assistant District Public Defenders,
for the appellant, Demarcus Lashawn Blackman.

Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter;
Alexander C. Vey, Assistant Attorney General; Robert J.
Carter, District Attorney General; and William B. Bottoms,
Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State
of Tennessee.

Robert
H. Montgomery, Jr., J., delivered the opinion of the court,
in which Alan E. Glenn and Timothy L. Easter, JJ., joined.

OPINION

ROBERT
H. MONTGOMERY, JR., JUDGE

The
Defendant was charged with aggravated criminal trespass,
evading arrest, possession of cocaine with the intent to
sell, and possession of cocaine with the intent to deliver.
At the trial, Lewisburg Police Sergeant Chris Sawyers
testified that on July 3, 2015, at about 2:00 a.m., he saw a
car with no license plate light. The car ran a stop sign
while making a turn, and Sergeant Sawyers activated his blue
lights and siren. He could see two men inside. The driver
made two turns and stopped the car two to three minutes
later. Before Sergeant Sawyers left his police cruiser, he
saw two African-American men leave the car and "[take]
off running, " and Sergeant Sawyers called for backup.
Sergeant Sawyers described the driver, later identified as
the Defendant, who had long dreadlocks and wore a white
t-shirt, and the passenger, who had short hair and wore a
blue shirt. The Defendant and the other man had run in
opposite directions. Sergeant Sawyers noted that the
Defendant had looked toward Sergeant Sawyers as he left the
car and that he had seen the Defendant's face. Between
forty-five minutes and one hour after the initial traffic
stop, Sergeant Sawyers went to the rear of an apartment,
where Officer Lonnie Cook had detained the Defendant.

On
cross-examination, Sergeant Sawyers testified that the
traffic pursuit only spanned two blocks. The camera in
Sergeant Sawyers's police cruiser was not working at the
time of the incident.

Lewisburg
Police Officer Lonnie Cook testified that when he arrived at
the location of the traffic stop, Sergeant Sawyers described
the two men, and Officer Cook and other officers searched
unsuccessfully for the men. As Officer Cook drove, two young
women flagged him down. He said that after speaking to the
women, he looked for a "dark colored" Nissan Altima
driven by a Caucasian man who was accompanied by an
African-American man, who had long dreadlocks and wore a
white shirt and matched the description provided by Sergeant
Sawyers. Officer Cook said that about 2:30 a.m., he saw a
Nissan Altima matching the description provided by the two
women and that he followed the vehicle. The Nissan pulled
over onto the side of the road, and Officer Cook pulled his
police cruiser alongside it. Officer Cook saw the driver, a
Caucasian man, and the passenger, who was later identified as
the Defendant, an African-American man who had long
dreadlocks. The Defendant exited the car and ran, and Officer
Cook stood beside his police cruiser and shouted at him. The
Defendant turned and responded, "Who me?" and
Officer Cook told him he wanted to talk. The Defendant ran,
and Officer Cook followed and yelled at the Defendant to
stop. The Defendant and Officer Cook ran through the
backyards of houses and jumped over "fences, little rock
walls."

Officer
Cook testified that he lost sight of the Defendant. Officer
Cook returned to his police cruiser and saw that the Nissan
and its driver were gone. Officer Cook saw the Defendant
behind a church, and the Defendant ran again. Officer Cook
chased the Defendant toward a nearby apartment complex. He
said he saw people inside an apartment pushing the Defendant
out of the apartment and the Defendant's throwing
something as the Defendant went down concrete steps in front
of the apartment. Officer Cook drew his gun, ordered the
Defendant onto the ground, and held the Defendant at gunpoint
until another officer arrived and Officer Cook could handcuff
him. Officer Cook noted that the Defendant threw something
about five feet away from where Officer Cook handcuffed him.

Officer
Cook testified that he saw two clear plastic bags containing
a white substance on the ground in the area where he had seen
the Defendant throw something. The Defendant's cell phone
was on the ground near where he had been handcuffed, and
Officer Cook noted that the cell phone and plastic bags were
dry, although the grass was wet.

Officer
Cook examined the cell phone's text messages to determine
to whom the cell phone belonged, and he saw messages
addressed to "Gucci." He stated that the
Defendant's nickname was Gucci. Officer Cook collected
the plastic bags as evidence, the substance inside the bags
field tested positive for cocaine, and Officer Cook ordered
laboratory testing. He noted ...

Our website includes the first part of the main text of the court's opinion.
To read the entire case, you must purchase the decision for download. With purchase,
you also receive any available docket numbers, case citations or footnotes, dissents
and concurrences that accompany the decision.
Docket numbers and/or citations allow you to research a case further or to use a case in a
legal proceeding. Footnotes (if any) include details of the court's decision. If the document contains a simple affirmation or denial without discussion,
there may not be additional text.

Buy This Entire Record For
$7.95

Download the entire decision to receive the complete text, official citation,
docket number, dissents and concurrences, and footnotes for this case.